Sharks blasted by Lightning: Here’s what might have been the most concerning part

Rebuilding San Jose Sharks unable to keep up with the Tampa Bay Lightning

The San Jose Sharks’ game against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night provided a clear picture of where each franchise stands right now in terms of expectations for this season.

The Lightning are aiming to reach the Stanley Cup Final for the fourth time in five years. The Sharks are in full rebuild mode, hoping to be competitive again in two or three years.

That stark contrast was on full display at Amalie Arena, where the Sharks were completely outclassed in a 6-0 loss to the Lightning, extending San Jose’s season-opening losing streak to seven games.

“We weren’t tough enough to play against, they had too much time and space,” defenseman Mario Ferraro said after the Sharks’ most lopsided loss of the season. “It wasn’t our best game. That makes us very unhappy. There’s nothing positive to be gained from that.”

The Sharks gave up three goals in the first period and two more in the first 7:29 of the second before coach David Quinn mercifully pulled starting goalie Mackenzie Blackwood. Kaapo Kahkonen, who was supposed to start against the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday, came in relief and stopped nine of ten shots.

‘They were firing on all cylinders, and we were half a step behind everywhere,” Quinn explained. “We didn’t have a lot of defensive anticipation, which allowed them an awful lot of zone time, and when you’re late everywhere defending, you’re going to spend as much time in our end as we just did.”

Five different Lightning players scored on Blackwood’s 21 shots, including ex-Sharks winger Mikey Eyssimont, who scored at the 6:03 mark of the first period to give Tampa Bay a 2-0 lead. On March 1, the Sharks traded Eyssimont to the Lightning in exchange for Vladislav Namestnikov. Namestnikov was traded to the Winnipeg Jets for a fourth-round draft pick in 2025 two days later.

Tampa Bay’s other scorers were Brayden Point, Steven Stamkos, Nick Paul, Brandon Hagel, and Luke Glendening, as the Sharks fell to 0-6-1, just four games shy of matching the franchise record for a winless start to a season. To begin the 1998-99 season, the Sharks had zero wins, seven losses, and four ties.

However, San Jose’s latest defeat cannot be blamed solely on the goalies.

The Sharks were a step slow to pucks on Thursday, at least through the first two periods, and simply couldn’t keep up with the Lightning, who not only play with pace but can also break out of their own zone with frightening quickness.

Victor Hedman found Alex Barré-Boule with a 120-foot pass up the ice for Hagel’s goal. Barré-Boule, who had just entered the game, then found Hagel for a breakaway opportunity.

“We were just running late everywhere,” Quinn explained. “We’d simply lose too many battles, doing too much shadow defending instead of ending plays.” We lost our structure as the game progressed because we spent so much time in our end.”

Jonas Johansson of the Lightning made 23 saves as the Sharks were shut out for the first time this season.

San Jose has now scored an NHL-low eight goals in seven games, becoming the tenth NHL team since the center red line was introduced in 1943-44 to score eight goals or fewer in their first seven games.

The Sharks’ most concerning aspect of Thursday’s game was that the Lightning were the harder-working team for at least the first 40 minutes. According to Natural Stat Trick, the Sharks created only five high-danger chances while allowing 17.

To have any chance of competing against playoff-caliber teams, the Sharks must be detailed and have a work ethic to match. Six of the seven teams the Sharks have faced thus far have made the playoffs.

“The effort and dedication you can put into our game, that’s just a choice,” Sharks defenseman Jan Rutta explained. “I believe we had some close games. We may not have had the skill level, but we still played some close games. So it comes down to personal preference. We can put up a fight.”

One wonders when the Sharks will win their first game. Following Friday’s game against Carolina, the Sharks’ road trip concludes on Sunday against the Washington Capitals.

If the Sharks fail to win either of those two games, their next opportunities will come next week at home against the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday and the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday.

The Sharks placed forward Alexander Barabanov on injured reserve before the game and recalled center Ryan Carpenter from the Barracuda. Barabanov is out for the week after breaking his finger against Florida on Tuesday. On Thursday, he returned to San Jose and will have his finger examined by a specialist.

Late in the third period, Barabanov was hit in the left hand by a shot from winger Mike Hoffman in front of the Panthers’ net. Barabanov was then knocked down by a cross-check to the back from Gustav Forsling before Oliver Ekman-Larsson landed on him in Florida’s crease.

Barabanov had no points in six games this season, but he was still in the Sharks’ top-six forward group, as he had been for the majority of his two-plus seasons in San Jose. His absence leaves another void for the Sharks to try to fill.

The Sharks, who are also missing injured centers Logan Couture and Mikael Granlund, have scored just eight goals in six games — the lowest per-game average in the NHL — and are 0-5-1. It is unclear when both forwards, who are suffering from lower-body injuries, will be able to return.